New law needed to protect tenants from bad landlords, unsafe conditions: Advocates

The Woonbond wants politicians to speed up a bill on good landlordship, which would allow municipalities to address bad landlords. A study by Brandpunt+ and 3Vraagt, part of the EenVandaag Opinion Panel, found that many young tenants face unsafe situations because their landlords aren’t fulfilling their responsibilities.

Nearly half of the surveyed young tenants who rent from a landlord (43 percent) said the landlord refuses to maintain their home. Nearly a third (29 percent) said the landlord performed no repairs in the house. And a fifth (20 percent) said their landlord entered their home uninvited.

The Woonbond has heard similar reports from the commercial rental sector. If the new law on good landlordship is in place, municipalities can, for example, fine bad landlords, revoke rental permits, or take over the management of the rental property.

The commercial rental sector covers more than a million homes, according to Woonbond. “Young tenants, in particular, rent in this market because they encounter long waiting times or income limits with social rent, and an owner-occupied home is often unaffordable. It is high time to take the protection of this large group of tenants seriously,” said Woonbond director Zeno Winkels.

The 3Vraagt study was conducted among 2,150 people aged 16 to 34, including 637 renting from a landlord.